Sanitary drinking fountain



Patented Mar. 3, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT- OFFICE 2,275,200 SANITARY DRINKING FOUNTAIN Drue McBride Purdom, Cincinnati, Ohio Application November 12, 1938, Serial No. 239,946.

3 Claims.

The present invention relates to drinking fountains which are placed in public places to afford persons a draught of water without the use of a cup or other container. The invention is especially directed to improvements in the construction and cooperation of parts in the drinking fountain thus described whereby better sanitary conditions may be secured and maintained.

Heretofore it has been the practice to employ an auxiliary spray or curtain of water with a l attempting to do so, the persons face would be sprayed with water.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a drinking fountain which has improved sanitary features.

Another object of the invention is to provide a spray or curtain of water for .protecting the discharge jet from the hands or face of a person using my fountain which also carries or flows germs from the drinkers mouth directly into the discharge drain.

A further object of the invention is to provide a hood or recess for the discharge jet which shields it from the auxiliary spray and protects said jet from accidental contact with the hands or face of a person.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a novel manner of directing the auxiliary and the discharge jet to produce a highly eflicient and sanitary fountain.

Other objects will be apparent from the following specification and drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal, cross-sectional view of my drinking fountain.

Fig. 2 is a top plan being broken away for clarity.

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

The embodiment of my invention comprises a molded porcelain bowl 5 positioned against a wall 5, said bowl having side walls I and a sloped bottom 8. The lowermost central portion of the bottom is View of the fountain, parts i provided with a suitable discharge drain 9 which has a conventional perforated plate I0, drain head II and pipe and elbow arrangement [2.

The front wall of the bowl is provided with .a chamber [3 which is sealed at its open end by expansion coupling 14 communicating with valve l5 by means of coupling extension H5. The valve is operated by means of handwheel ll whilst the lower end of the valve is connected with service pipe l8. A passageway or port l9 communicating with chamber I3 terminates at its upper end in a horizontal rim passageway 20 while a relatively small passageway 2| terminates in an inclined nozzle 22. i

The nozzle is disposed in a recess 23 which is provided with a hood portion 24, the function of which will be explained hereinafter. The nozzle is inclined in a position suitable to create a jet of water 240 which rises to a crest position which is above the top edge of the bowl and which thereafter falls to the bottom of the bowl adjacent the discharge drain, as indicated by reference numeral 25. It will be noted that the rising portion of the jet of water is relatively compact and normally falls in a dispersed manner, some of the dispersion being greatly increased when the user of the fountain places his mouth at the crest portion of the jet. To wash or flow the germs presented in the stream by the user after said jet has reached its crest portion, I provide a number of orifices 26 which are formed in the side wall of the bowl and communicate with rim passage 20. As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the orifices are positioned on both sides or the plane of direction of the water jet and are adapted to create a curtain of water 21 about the jet which meets the falling portion of the water jet 240 near the discharge drain, as shown in Fig. 1. The side wall adjacent the drain is provided with overhanging lip portion 28 which serves as a splash guard when the fountain is in operation.

It is therefore apparent that the curtain of water set up by means of the orifices travels substantially downwardly and to both sides of the rising portion of the jet of water, the water curtain finally meeting the falling portion of the water jet adjacent or near the discharge drain 9. It will be noted, therefore, when the user places his mouth at the crest 240 and creates inadvertently or accidentally a dispersion of water, the water and possible contamination falls either backward upon or forward on the adjacent curtain of water, said curtain of water aiding to wash or flow said contamination into the drain.

The hood portion 24 and the recess 23 partially enclosing the nozzle 22 prevent water ejected from orifices 26 from coming into contact with said nozzle and also prevent Water disturbed by the users mouth from coming into contact with said nozzle.

What is claimed is:

1. In a drinking fountain the combination of a bowl having a discharge drain in the bottom and adjacent one side thereof, an inclined nozzle disposed in a recess in the bowl upon the opposite side of the bowl and adapted to create a jet of Water above the bowl which terminates in the vicinity of the drain, a plurality of orifices formed in the side wall of the bowl above the nozzle and positioned on both sides of the plane of direction of the water jet and adapted to create a curtain of water about the jet and meeting said jet near the discharge drain and a splash guard for the side wall near the drain. I

2. In a drinking fountain the combination of a bowl having a discharge drain in the bottom v and adjacent one side thereof, an inclined nozzle disposed in a recess in the opposite wall of the bowl and adapted to create a jet of water rising above the bowl and falling in the vicinity of the drain, a plurality of orifices formed in the side wall of the bowl above the nozzle and positioned on both sides of the plane of direction of the jet and adapted to create a curtain of water about the rising portion of the jet meeting said jet as it falls in the vicinity of the drain, and an upstanding hood positioned around the nozzle and interposed between it and the orifices.

3. A drinking fountain comprising a bowl having a main spout longitudinally inclined upwardly and auxiliary spouts inclined downwardly and located upon each side of the main spout whereby water is ejected from the main spout above and out of the paths of the water ejected from the auxiliary spouts.

DRUE MCBRIDE PURDOM. 

